William III of England

William III of Britain (14 November 1650-8 March 1702) was a Dutch leader and the king of Britain.

Biography
William of Orange was born hereditary stadtholder (head of state) of the Dutch Republic but, until 1672, he was excluded from power by politcal opponents. In that year, Louis XIV of France invaded the Netherlands, threatening to overrun the country. At age 22, William was appointed captain-general of the Dutch armed forces, fighting France to a compromise peace. However, the survival of his Protestant country remained precarious in the face of Louis' aggressive Catholicism.

The New King
William could not allow England to become a Catholic country allied to France. In 1688 he secured a formal invitation from some English grandees to take the throne from the Catholic James II of Britain. When William invaded England with an army of 15,000 Dutch troops, James was abandoned by his chief military commanders, including the future uke of Marlborough. William was thus able to assume the English throne jointly with his wife, Mary, without a fight.

From 1689, William was again at war with Louis. The French backed the deposed James in an invasion of Ireland. William crossed the Irish Sea with a substantial army and defeated the French and Jacobites (supporters of James) at the Boyne River in July 1690. But he continued to campaign in the Netherlands.

Driven from the field at Steenkirk in 1692 and again at Neerwinden in 1693, William still held the war effort together. In 1695, he regained the key fortress of Namur, a major blow to Louis' prestiege. In his goal of maintaining Dutch independence, William was wholly successful.